Hanoi (VNA)♑ –  Australian Prime MinisterAnthony Albanese and his entourage left Hanoi on June 4 evening, concluding a two-dayofficial visit to Vietnam at the invitation of his Vietnamese counterpart PhamMinh Chinh.

Withinthe framework of the visit, PM Albanese and the Australian delegation had a wide range of activities such as laying wreaths in tribute to late President Ho Chi Minh athis mausoleum in Hanoi, holding talks with PM Chinh and meeting with the press, and meeting with General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen PhuTrong, President Vo Van Thuong and National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue. Onthis occasion, the two PMs visited the women’s football teams of Australia and Vietnam. PM Albanese visited RMIT University and enjoyed Vietnamese sandwich "banhmi" and drank "bia hoi", a locally brewed beer often used byHanoians on hot summer days. The high-level meetings within the framework of the visit took place in the spirit ofopenness, frankness, sincerity, and trust. The Vietnamese and Australian leaders werepleased to see that the two countries' relations are developing fruitfully andeffectively. Political trust, mutual understanding, and respect have beenfurther consolidated through regular delegation exchanges and high-level meetings between leaders and people of the two countries. Economic-tradecooperation has become a bright spot in the bilateral relationship withtheir two-way trade turnover reaching nearly 16 billion USD in 2022, anincrease of nearly 30% compared to 2021. Security and defence cooperation has been increasingly effective and practical, especially in the field of UNpeacekeeping. Cooperationin education, training, agriculture, tourism, culture, labour,science-technology, and innovation achieved positive results with manyeffective cooperation programmes and projects. Thetwo countries also share a common vision on a peaceful, stable, open, andinclusive Indo-Pacific region, and treasures the central role of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Thetwo sides agreed to increase high-level mutual visits and meetings between thetwo countries’ parties, parliaments, and governments; boost people-to-peopleexchanges; continue to deepen the Strategic Partnership inthe new period; push ahead with economic, trade, and investment links,including fruitfully carrying out the plan on implementing the EnhancedEconomic Engagement Strategy (EEES) for 2021 - 2025, striving to raise bilateral trade to 20 billion USD in the coming time; reinforce the twoeconomies’ connectivity; and step up cooperation in defence, security, judicialaffairs, official development assistance (ODA), education - training, science -technology, labour, transport, tourism, climate change response, and digitaltransformation. Vietnamand Australia consented to continue coordinating and supporting each other at multilateralforums, especially the United Nations, ASEAN, and ASEAN-led mechanisms; promotedialogue, build trust, encourage countries to hold dialogue and cooperate for commongoals, ensuring the central role of ASEAN; and strengthen cooperation within theframework of mechanisms of the Mekong Sub-region in promoting investment. Australia identifies Vietnam as playing a central role in ASEAN. Thetwo sides reaffirmed the importance of ensuring peace, stability, security,safety, and freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Sea; settlingdisputes by peaceful means on the basis of respect for international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Inthe coming time, the two sides agreed to continue promoting cooperation invarious fields, especially in addressing security challenges and climatechange. Australia will support Vietnam in energy transition, including a support package worth 105million AUD for Vietnam’s planning on sustainable development, clean energydevelopment, and mining; expand the programme to support Vietnam inagriculture. Thetwo PMs witnessed the exchange of cooperation documents, including an MoUbetween Vietnam’s Ministry of Science and Technology and Australia’s Departmentof Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) on cooperation in science, technology, andinnovation; an MoU between Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade and DFAT on establishing a ministerial-level dialogue on trade; an MoU between theState Bank of Vietnam and the Australian Transaction Reports and AnalysisCentre (AUSTRAC) on exchanging information on money laundering and terrorismfinancing; an MoU between the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH)and the Western Sydney University (UWS) on the latter’s provision of 70scholarships for Vietnamese students to study at UWS’s Vietnamcampus. Alsoon this occasion, Vietnam Airlines received a licence and announced the launchof the Hanoi – Melbourne route, and Vietjet Air received a licence andannounced the launch of its service between Ho Chi Minh City and Brisbane. Theofficial visit to Vietnam by Australian PM Albanese from June 3-4continued to consolidate political trust and promote bilateral cooperationin politics - diplomacy, defence - security, economy, investment, labour,education, technology, climate change, and people-to-people exchange betweenVietnam and Australia./.